Look before you leap said the pointyeared creature
by galleena
Summary: Kirk finds himself chasing across the galaxy in hot pursuit of a woman with something she stole from the Enterprise. Sorry about the misleading summary earlier, this story was originally about something else.
1. 1

**No, I don't own Star Trek and I don't own Star Wars either but, as kids use playgrounds I use characters… **

**AN This has been re-written for an audience not in the Star Trek know. Be nice. I have put in some explainations in brackets, if you are a Trekker feel free to ignore them! If you have trouble understanding the small alien you just re-arrange her sentences, they're sort of backwards; e.g. "Talk like that she does" meansShe talks like that."

* * *

**

Captain Kirk of the star ship Enterprise was in a dilemma. Theywere on an alien planet in pursuit of aillicit trader and somehow a seven foot tallbouncer had his chief engineer Scotty hanging on the end of one arm and ship doctor McCoy on the end of the other. Kirk was pinned in the surrounding crowd unable to either advance or retreat, under orders not to draw attention to himself. Both Scotty and Bones (Dr.McCoy) were highly intoxicated which didn't help the situation. Bones was yelling drunkenly at the bouncer. Scotty was crooning gently to a bottle of foul-looking brown liquid. Spock, his first officer (vice-captain), was typically nowhere to be seen. A trivial matter of paying for the drink had escalated so quickly. By the 22nd century most planets abolished money but not, it seemed, this one. McCoy was yelling again. Straining his ears Kirk could make out some of the (one-sided) conversation;

'Put me down you big-nosed, slug-faced, yellow-bellied monstrosity. I'm warning ya', this is the last chance you'll get…'

Damn! Kirk thought, this wouldn't be pretty.

Meanwhile First Officer Spock shifted aside a tattered curtain to look into a hovel-like shop. He was disguised as a "Romulan" alien, though he was in fact "Vulcan". Both species had the same background and both looked similar because of this. They were, however, very unfriendly toward each other. Vulcans worked logically, Romulans worked emotionally. Vulcans were pat of The Federation of Planets, Romulans had their own Empire. Nevertheless, it was easy for Spock to pretend to be a Romulan; all he needed was a dark cloak, a ready smile and a bag of gold.

Various illegal imports surrounded the make-shift shelves of the hut and the whole tent reeked horribly. Rumours of stolen Federation Dilithium Crystals (things which make the star ships work) being sold to Romulans in this impoverished town reached Spock's pointy alien ears and the informer had named the alien who ran this joint as ringleader. Spock turned and spoke quietly to the security guard who had followed him to the hovel.

'Assuming our co-ordinates are indeed correct I must go alone from here; a Romulan trader with a Terran (human) companion looks suspicious and we would not accomplish our task. I will not be long. Please report to Captain Kirk, tell him I will rendezvous with the rest of the landing party outside the meeting house at 1800 hours.'

He turned and strode into the shack.

* * *

It was Kirk's truly worst night-mare.

Here he was, forcibly restrained by rules and regulations and a massive crowd of aliens baying for blood, while two of best friends was about to get knocked about. Damn that man Bones anyway! What possessed him to get drunk on a mission like this? And where the hell was Spock! He should have been here by 1800 and now it was 1823. Kirk had put the delay down to Spock having difficulty retrieving the necessary information but now he wasn't so sure. It was definitely uncharacteristic of his first officer to be gone this long without reporting back.

A sharp hiss returned Kirk's attention to the situation at hand. Scotty had fallen asleep and was drooling on the bouncer's sleeve. With a look of disgust the guard dropped him to focus on the more immediate problem of McCoy, who was still yelling loudly. Kirk willed Bones to shut-up. Surprisingly Bones didn't hear him. The bouncer raised one ham of a fist and swung it towards McCoy. It was too much, Kirk swiftly un-holstered his phaser (laser gun) to fire.

Then everyone froze.

A small figure in a long brown cloak stepped into the centre of the now silent circle and raised a twisted hand. The bouncer had stopped mid swing. Very softly the stranger said:

'Do that you do not wish to, my friend. Lower the good doctor you will.'

Very slowly the guard dropped the fist clamped around McCoy's throat. The small alien waved its hand and the bouncer calmly turned and strode back into the meeting house. Kirk rushed forward through a dispersing crowd to catch his swaying friend. Bones looked up at Kirk and giggled before the small stranger came over and placed a wrinkled hand over his eyes. The doctor slumped involuntarily and fell to the ground.

It was a few moments before Kirk realised that Bones wasn't breathing.

* * *

_Earlier_:

Spock stepped into the shack and sensed something was amiss. It was very dark with the curtain closed and his eyes took a while to adjust. The stench of filth and smoke made him want to turn heel and leave. But he was Vulcan. He had a mission to accomplish and to leave now would be illogical. He took as deep a breath as his self-preservation instinct would allow in the murky air and whispered the name he was given by the informer. Somebody moved ahead of him but he got no response.

'Curious' thought Spock.

A sudden sharp hit to his lower chest caused him to gasp and crumple forward slowly. A pirate squatting in the corner chuckled deeply. The Vulcan fool had never even seen it coming. Four of pirates lifted Spock onto their shoulders and exited the tent. A slight, slim figure followed them out. Exactly twenty-five seconds later the tent blew up behind them.


	2. Chapter 2

**II**

Kirk groaned and shook his head. Drawing a weapon on the small creature in front of him for "killing" McCoy had proved to be a _major_ mistake. The Thing had knocked him out with a mere wave of a tiny hand. Above Kirk stars twinkled in a dark sky; he must have been out a while. Nearby the diminutive alien's heavily hooded green eyes were peering at him casually. Kirk had never seen anything like it before. Large pointy ears, small jade-coloured eyes, a mop of brown hair and more wrinkles on its green skin than on a Juppie fruit left out under the Vulcan sun (Vulcans live on a very hot planet). Kirk sat up a little straighter and the creature smiled broadly.

'Ah, well you are. Good to see this is. Afraid I was, that grievously hurt you I had but surprised I was by bottle of scotch thrown at my head'.

Kirk rubbed his temples wincing. Ah yes, good old Scotty had distracted the stranger long enough for Kirk to call Spock on their intercom badges. Still, that creature could well pack a punch and unless he got Bones to… BONES! Where was he? The thought of his friend lying motionless somewhere was enough to make Kirk sit bolt upright. The stranger, seeming to read his mind, chuckled softly.

'Worry not Captain Kirk; well your friend now is. In a healing trance he lies. Back on board I put them.'

Kirk sat up a little straighter again. The creature knew his name and rank. He knew Scotty was an engineer and he had managed to beam two people aboard _his _ship the Enterprise. Kirk's head was giving him a red alert signal. The little creature cleared its throat and continued.

'Master Yaddle my name is, Jedi Master of the Republic. Here I am on mission. Discuss it with you here, I may not. Go we must, lots to talk of we have.'

Where was Spock? He hadn't reported to Kirk yet. Kirk checked his chronometer. It read 19:56 and still no sign of him. Something must have gone wrong. Pulling himself to his feet he grabbed McCoy's tricorder from where it lay on the ground and took off in the direction of the shack Spock had been to, ignoring the calls from the "Master Yaddle" creature.

* * *

The air was thick, dark and oxygen-deprived when Spock awoke. He raised his head and involuntarily groaned at the sudden ache. Telling himself that pain is only a thing of the mind and can be controlled he lurched to his feet and leaned against the wall of the room for support. Interestingly, he no longer appeared to be in the tent. In fact Spock was almost certain that he was being held in a cargo-hold on a trading-class shuttle. The cold air hummed softly with the noise of the ship's engines. His eyes roamed the room for a way out… and spotted the hatch on the ceiling. Sighing, he sat back down and closed his eyes to meditate. He could deal with being kidnapped when he woke again.

* * *

Captain Kirk rounded the corner at a sprint, and then stopped as though struck by an invisible wall. There was no hut where Spock had specified but a large crater lay yawning open there instead. A small huddle of local security men were looking baffled beside it. Something brown caught Kirk's eye at the edge of the crater. A pile of rags perhaps? His heart sank very low when his saw a gleam of gold in the centre of it. His First Officers communication badge lay broken in two on a shredded cloak, such as Spock wore when disguised as a Romulan. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately,there didn't seem to be a body.

The security guards were staring at Kirk's outlandish appearance. His hand was already reaching towards the empty holster at his hip in case of confrontation. Damn it! He must have dropped his phaser back outside the meeting house. Taking a quick step forward he nearly died of fright when a voice spoke from the general region of his knees. Seemingly from nowhere the small green faced alien arrived at the scene, took a quick look around and pulled on Kirk's sleeve.

'Long gone from here they are, Kirk. Return to your ship immediately you should.'

_Not before I have a look around_, thought Kirk grimly. _Stupid gnome_.

However, Kirk found his reluctant legs obeying the suggestion and the next thing he knew he was back on board the Enterprise and circling an orbit high above the war-broken planet. The small green creature was nowhere in sight. Neither was Spock and after a few curt inquires it seemed no-one had seen him since they left for the planet that morning. Spock was missing and Kirk intended to find him.

* * *

Something was pressing at the back of his mind as though it was trying to break in every time he tried to meditate. Spock shook his head in disbelief. What he felt was theoretically impossible without entering into a mind-meld. (Vulcans are touch telepaths, they can sense and talk to one another when touching)

_Hello? _He asked.

He thought he recognised the feel of the other mind from somewhere but he got no reply back. _Curious,_ he thought, _where did that come from? _Closing his eyes he settled back down again.

#Spock#

He jumped in surprise. There it was again. He couldn't quite place the voice; it had an unusual quality to it. It sounded... bored… Pushing aside his doubts about the feasibility of communication he tried again.

_Who are you? How are you communicating with me?_

Above him the large cargo-bay door creaked open suddenly and a figure of slight build descended a set of metal steps unfolding in front of them. A sudden flash of pain sent Spock reeling backwards against the cargo-hold wall, unconscious once again.


	3. Chapter 3

III

Spock, when he woke, could tell that the being who entered via the overhead hatch was no ordinary pirate. The footsteps across the cold metal floor were much too light for a massive Orion male. No, it was more likely to be a jailer bringing some nourishment down to him.

Sure enough there was a clang of metal on metal or a dish being put on the ground. Turning to face the jailer he was unpleasantly surprised to find himself facing the nozzle of a sleek phaser clutched in the jailer's hand.

The person standing opposite Spock was unmistakably female as well as being somehow familiar…like he had known them a _long_ time ago. He pushed aside his feeling of uneasiness and focused on his (presumed) captor's voice.

"I could kill you in an instant Mister Spock but then all those months of careful planning would have been wasted and that wouldn't do now would it?"

Spock could see her teeth gleaming behind the air filter concealing her face.

"Shooting you would be too quick, too painless, not at all deserving of the _hero_ you are."

When she said hero it was with a sneer in her voice. Very slowly she backed up the stairs.

"You think it's cold here? Wait until we leave the planet. Then you'll learn the true meaning of icy. Iced up like I've been for six whole years Spock. I was only a kid trying to get along until you and your Starfleet pals came along and took my life away. But I'll change all that, it'll change now. This bay will be your new home Spock; welcome to your last resting place."

The steps retracted smoothly behind her. They weren't standard issues in bays, she must have modified the ship. She's nearly reached to top now.

'Goodbye Spock, I'm going to enjoy watching you die' she pointed to a corner of the bay 'Be a good boy and smile for the camera.'

Far above him the hatch door slammed shut.

Kirk threw himself into his captain's chair and spoke to one of the officers at the helm (driving the star ship).

'Mister Chekov, I need you to assemble a search party of six to beam back down to the planet immediately'

'Are you not coming vith us Captain?'

'No Chekov I need to speak with Starfleet Command, I need a lead on who might be behind all this. I'll join you on-planet as soon as I can.' _ Besides, there's somebody here I need to talk to first._ Kirk wondered how he might find the small alien again.

The creature named Yaddle sat in deep thought. She could sense the child for whom she had travelled here nearby but Spock's disappearance complicated matters. It was possible help Kirk, and in some ways she felt partially responsible for what had happened, but at helping would cost her time and focus. Yaddle contemplated for several minutes more before reaching a decision and going to find Kirk.


	4. Chapter 4

IV

Icy- shivers only ran down his back as a result of the glacial air, Spock told himself. It had nothing to do with apprehension. No, definitely not. Then a small part of his brain told him that it was perfectly logical to feel uneasy in a cold, dark hold where the air was rapidly running out and he felt a bit better. He estimated that the air in the chamber could last several days if used conservatively and felt better still.

Most illogically though, he still wished he could get out of this chilly hull _right now_. Perhaps it was time he slept a while, and then he would work on escaping.

Yaddle found Kirk en-route to his quarters and started to hobble alongside him. She gave him yet another awful fright when she pulled on his trouser leg.

"Speak now we must Kirk, follow me you will"

Cursing at his own jumpiness Kirk followed the pointed eared creature back down the corridor.

The woman was there again, in his head as he slept. She felt bored, maybe trapped as well.

_Are you there?_

#yes, where are you?# she asked

Communication! Spock blinked and concentrated on projecting his thoughts.

_I appear to be a hostage held for my captor's own amusement or vindictive intentions, other than that I know only that I am being held in a cargo-hold in a trading class space-_

The person suddenly vanished from his mind and crushing disappointment threatened to overwhelm him. How his malevolent hostage-holder must be enjoying recording his dejection. The camera in the corner whirred around on its pivot and a split second later Spock had an idea. The camera was feeding images of him to a view screen somewhere else on the ship. It must somehow be linked up to the main computer and he could possibly use this to his advantage.

Charged with a new sense of urgency, Spock prised his stiff limbs off the artic metal floor and groped his way across the room.

Yaddle told Kirk at length about her mission in this part of the galaxy. There was a child, she said, who had remarkable Force-ability in the region. He must be found before he discovered the true potential of his power. Force potential, she went on to explain, basically meant the boy could talk to people without speaking, lift things without touching them and live through things a normal human would never survive. He would be a serious threat to the normal people around him if not taken to Yaddle's home and trained properly.

She did, however, have a more urgent purpose for coming so soon. The child's mother was believed to be a Drug-trader and it seemed she had recognised her son's special abilities long ago. She kept him with her when trading and had never yet been caught while he was around. The Jedi-order had been following them for months now and had tracked them as far as Aurian when she met Kirk. They weren't entirely sure why the mother and son had arrived here but it now seemed that they had come to take a Star-fleet officer hostage. Perhaps they even specifically come for Spock.

Kirk was disturbed by this news. On one hand he wasn't sure he trusted Master Yaddle, it was possible she was using the Federation for her own purposes. On the other hand if she really had been tracking Spock's assailant then perhaps she could provide them with valuable information. He decided to enlist her help for the time being, though he was a little uneasy with her apparent knowledge of events she was supposedly unconnected to. How could she possibly know that these hostage-takers were the woman and boy she was tracking? Kirk pushed that treacherous thought aside and listened intently to the green creature's suggestions.

Scotty stared at his captain incredulously; did he really just hear what he thought he heard?

"So, what you're saying is that you want me to _hack_ into the Starfleet archives and get records of all convicted drug traders in the last ten years while making it look like routine check-ups?"

Kirk thought about it for a moment. 'Exactly,' he said 'you can do it can't you?'

Scotty shook his head in disbelief "Aye, I can, but it'll take some time to imitate Admirals Phinn's ID on the main computer and then I'll have to over-ride the security back-up." Scotty hesitated before saying what was really on his mind "it could lose me my job Captain.'

Kirk stood up and nodded his acknowledgement of Scotty's reluctance. It would be noted in his log. Then, with a customary 'get to it Mr. Scott' he left the engine room.

Bones was lying in Sick-bay listening attentively to everything Kirk was telling him (and everything he wasn't saying too). For once McCoy let Kirk speak uninterrupted, something Kirk took to mean that the old man was feeling worse than he was letting on and not quite up to the task at hand. Seeing Jim's hesitation McCoy took it on to tell Jim that he was 'Just fine'.

"Jim that alien-thingy only knocked me out so she wouldn't have to put up with my drunken slurs about his pointy-ears. I'm just dandy now, she did a good job on me; healed my broken leg, cured what should have been the mother of all hangovers and I haven't felt this rejuvenated since Spock fell into that Mud-bath on Tarsus IV, though I'm damned if I know why." Bones started to chuckle. Then, seeing the look on Kirk's face, he stopped abruptly.

Kirk remembered the smile Spock had on his face after beaming back from Tarsus IV. The mud had some kind of intoxicating liquid in it and Spock was practically singing for the next four hours. The only other time he had seen Spock smile was on Omicron Ceti III when he had been enjoying the company of Leila Kalomi under the influence of the narcotic native-plants. He grinned suddenly at the recollection.

Kirk had, in fact, refused to go off-shore when they arrived at Tarsus IV. He knew he would have wasted the leave on reliving frightful memories of a terrifying childhood (Kirk grew up in a brutal camp on Tarsus 4) and the idea of going on a tour around the swamps and hills where so many people he knew had been put to death made him feel physically ill. The past was a place he preferred not to visit.

McCoy waited for Kirk to snap out of it. Eventually he gave a low cough. Kirk regained his bearings then so spoke softly to the doctor that no other staff member could possibly overhear,

'Bones I need you to check something for me; Scotty found some information for me and I think I know who has Spock captive…'


End file.
